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Just Eat Takeaway to wipe £5bn off Grubhub valuation | Business

May 28, 2022 by Staff Reporter

Just Eat Takeaway’s sale of Grubhub has been thrown into disarray as bosses prepare for a multibillion-pound writedown on the US business in what could go down as one of the tech sector’s most disastrous deals.

Bankers from Bank of America have the task of finding a buyer or strategic partner for the American food delivery operator, which Just Eat Takeaway bought for $7.3 billion (£5.8 billion) less than a year ago.

However, sources said Grubhub was being offered to potential bidders at a fraction of that amid a global tech stock sell-off — and it may not find a buyer at all.

It is the latest crisis for the takeaway giant, which has suspended a senior executive and is seeking a new chairman.

Multiple

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Filed Under: BUSINESS, US

VP Harris tells Buffalo mourners: ‘We will come together’ | National

May 28, 2022 by Staff Reporter

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Mourners laid to rest the last of 10 Black people killed in a racist attack at a Buffalo supermarket with a service on Saturday that became a call to action and an emotional plea to end the hate and violence that has wracked the nation.

The funeral for 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield — the oldest of the 10 people killed in the attack two weeks ago — included an impromptu speech by Vice President Kamala Harris. She attended the service at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Buffalo with second gentleman Doug Emhoff.

Harris told the mourners this is a moment in time for “all good people” to stand up to the injustice that happened at the Tops Friendly Market on May 14, as well as at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and in other mass shootings.

“This is a moment that requires all good people, all God-loving people to stand up and say we will not stand for this. Enough is enough,” said Harris, who wasn’t scheduled to speak and came to the microphone at the urging of the Rev. Al Sharpton. “We will come together based on what we all know we have in common, and we will not let those people who are motivated by hate separate us or make us feel fear.”

Following the funeral, Harris and Emhoff visited a memorial outside the supermarket. The vice president left a large bouquet of white flowers, and the pair paused to pray for several minutes. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden had placed flowers at the same memorial on May 17 and had visited with the victims’ families. Biden is expected to head to Texas for a visit this weekend with the families of victim’s of Tuesday’s school shooting.

Harris later told reporters that the administration is not “sitting around waiting to figure out what the solution looks like” to the nation’s gun violence problem.

“We know what works on that,” she said, reiterating support for background checks and a ban on assault weapons.

“Let’s have an assault weapons ban,” she said. “An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in civil society. Background checks: Why should anyone be able to buy a weapon that can kill other human beings without at least knowing: Hey, that person committed a violent crime before, are they a threat against themselves or others?”

Harris said the nation has to come together, as well.

“We have to agree that if we are to be strong as a nation, we must stand strong, identifying our diversity as our unity,” she said.

It’s been a sad week of goodbyes for family and friends of the Buffalo shooting victims, a group that includes a restaurant worker who went to the market to buy his 3-year-old’s birthday cake; a father and die-hard Buffalo Bills fan who worked as a school bus aide; and a 32-year-old sister who moved to the city to help a brother battling leukemia.

Whitfield, a grandmother and mother of four, had been inside the supermarket after visiting her husband of 68 years in a nursing home when a gunman identified by police as 18-year-old Payton Gendron began the deadly onslaught.

Authorities said Gendron, who is white, targeted the store three hours from his home in Conklin because it is in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who delivered a fiery tribute to Whitfield at the beginning of the funeral service, called for all “accomplices” who aided and abetted “this monster” who opened fire in the supermarket to be held accountable, from the gun manufacturers and distributors to the parents of the suspect.

Crump said those those who “instructed and radicalized this young, insecure individual” should also be held to account for taking Whitfield from her family, the Buffalo community and the planet. He called her “one of the most angelic figures that we have ever known.”

“It is a sin that this young depraved man, not a boy, went and killed Ruth Whitfield and the ‘Buffalo 10,’” Crump said, referring to the victims.

Sharpton described being floored to learn the shooter live-streamed his assault on Twitch, noting how his mother had grown up in Alabama, where hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan once killed Black people.

Today, he said, white supremacists “are proud to practice racism.”

Sharpton made a pitch for gun control measures during his eulogy, saying all communities need to come together and “disarm the haters.”

“There is an epidemic of racial violence that is accommodated by gun laws that allow people to kill us,” he said. “You ain’t got to love us, but you shouldn’t have easy access to military weapons to kill us.”

In all, 13 people were shot in the attack which federal authorities are investigating as a hate crime. Three people survived.

Whitfield was the mother of former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield.

Gendron is charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail. His attorney has entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

Pool reports were contributed to this story. Haigh reported from Connecticut.

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Filed Under: POLITICS, US

OSHA, JBS Foods Cut Deal To Create Infectious-Disease Plan

May 27, 2022 by Staff Reporter

By Parker Purifoy (May 27, 2022, 5:15 PM EDT) — Four subsidiaries and affiliates of JBS Foods USA have agreed to develop and implement an infectious-disease preparedness plan at seven of its meat processing plants as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, the DOL announced Friday.

To create and enact the plan, the company will assemble a team of company and third-party experts, including those recommended by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the United Food and Commercial Workers union, DOL said.

The settlement comes after OSHA fined JBS affiliates Swift Beef Co. and JBS Green Bay Inc. in September and October 2020 for failing to…

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Filed Under: BUSINESS, US

Kevin McCarthy refuses to comply with January 6 committee subpoena as it stands and issues demands

May 27, 2022 by Staff Reporter

McCarthy’s attorney, Elliot S. Berke, criticized the committee from all angles, claiming the subpoenas it issued to lawmakers are not constitutional or valid because it failed to meet certain legal requirements.

The Republican leader’s argument that the committee is not legal or constitutionally valid echoes those made by a number of subpoena targets who have attempted to make a legal claim that they do not need to comply. Judges have rejected that argument.

US District Court Judge Tim Kelly said in a recent case involving the committee’s request for documents from the Republican National Committee and one of its vendors that the request was well within its scope as a legislative body.

In addition to McCarthy, the panel subpoenaed four other House Republicans: GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. Jordan, Biggs and Perry have also pushed back on subpoenas the committee has issued them.

Berke specifically focused on the make-up of the committee, claiming it was partisan in nature and did not have the necessary input from House Republicans in order to issue subpoenas to members of Congress.

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected McCarthy’s selection of Jordan and GOP Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana to serve on the committee, she would have accepted the Republican leader’s other three picks. Instead, McCarthy pulled the rest of his proposed members from consideration. Pelosi ultimately selected GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to serve on the panel.

Narrowing in on the committee’s investigative focus, Berke accused the committee of using the federal government to “attack perceived political rivals” and warned its actions could “open Pandora’s box and damn this institution to partisan ‘investigations.'”

McCarthy, he said, has no new information to offer the committee, and he suggested the panel should ask Cheney, who served as GOP Conference Chair during the time period the committee wants to discuss with McCarhty, if it wants further insight into House Republican leadership.

McCarthy and Cheney became public political rivals when the Republican leader supported a campaign to oust the Wyoming Republican from her leadership post because she outwardly criticized former President Donald Trump for the role he played in the attack.

McCarthy’s attorney in the letter also went as far as to say some members on the panel are overreaching by claiming to act like law enforcement. The panel has been clear that its role is not to prosecute any crimes, but to simply refer any crimes that its investigation uncovers, if any, to the Department of Justice.

“In composition, in conduct, in press releases, public statements, interviews, and correspondence, the Select Committee is clearly not acting within the confines of any legislative purpose,” Berke wrote. “Its only objective appears to be to attempt to score political points or damage its political opponents — acting like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee one day and the Department of Justice the next.”

Berke laid out McCarthy’s demands that he wants met before he will consider how to move forward with the subpoena. Those include: Outlining what topics and documents the panel plans on using in a deposition, providing the legal and constitutional rational for both, naming the ranking minority member was who was consulted in advance of issuing subpoenas to Republican lawmakers and who the ranking minority member and counsel would be in a deposition, and limiting any deposition to one hour per side, alternating between minority and majority counsel.

In its initial letter to McCarthy in January seeking his voluntary cooperation, the panel made clear it wanted to question him about his communications with Trump, White House staff and others in the week after the January 6 attack, “particularly regarding President Trump’s state of mind at that time.”

The committee also wanted to understand how McCarthy’s public comments since the attack had changed over time from critical of Trump to in defense of him and questioned whether Trump pressured him to change his tone when the pair met in late January 2021.

Since the panel’s letter to McCarthy, new audio revealed that in the days following the insurrection, the minority leader had considered asking Trump to resign. Audio has also exposed that McCarthy told Republican lawmakers on a private conference call that Trump had admitted bearing some responsibility for the deadly attack.

The panel first reached out to Jordan, one of Trump’s staunchest allies on Capitol Hill, in December to learn more about communications he had with Trump on January 6, and with Trump allies who were stationed in the Willard Hotel war room in the days leading up to the attack.

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Filed Under: POLITICS, US

Audubon park shelter 11 About to Bounce inflatable rentals

May 27, 2022 by About To Bounce Inflatable Rentals



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Filed Under: About to Bounce, US Tagged With: party rentals bounce house, party rentals new orleans, party rentals water slide

Robotic Delivery Firm Takes on Education Barrier

May 26, 2022 by Staff Reporter

When it comes to food ordering, robotic delivery is quickly evolving from fringe new technology to lived reality as restaurants and delivery services rush to find viable solutions to meet demand in spite of driver labor challenges. From drone drop-off to sidewalk rovers, trials of robotic delivery are live across a range of different United States cities.

The technology got a major push into the mainstream when Uber Eats kicked off two major trials of different kinds of autonomous delivery in Los Angeles last week, one in partnership with driverless vehicle technology company Motional and one with Serve Robotics, an autonomous sidewalk delivery company that spun off from delivery company Postmates (now owned by Uber) back in 2017.

Additional details: Uber Eats Launches Two Robotic Delivery Pilots as Restaurant Industry Struggles to Meet Demand

Ali Kashani, Serve’s co-founder and CEO, explained in an interview with PYMNTS how, even as these sorts of robotic deliveries become more widespread, it will take time to overcome resistance to the new technology.

“There’s ton of demand already. … It’s just a matter of time. It’s just patience,” he said. “You have to go through this process, put the robots out, take care of the integrations, go through the manufacturing of more robots. It takes time to engage regulators, engage customers. … There’s an education component, making sure people understand why this exists, why it needs to exist.”

By the Numbers

Indeed, the demand is there. Research from the March/April edition of PYMNTS’ Digital Divide series, “The Digital Divide: Regional Variations in U.S. Food Ordering Trends and Digital Adoption, created in collaboration with Paytronix, which drew from a survey of more than 2,500 U.S. adults who regularly purchase food from restaurants, found that about one in three restaurant customers order from delivery aggregators each month.

See also: New Research Shows That Regional Dining Quirks Matter in Tailoring Restaurant Offers

Additionally, more consumers would be ordering from aggregators if it were not for the extra costs associated with the channel such as the fee for drivers’ labor and the added tip. This additional spending discourages many restaurant customers, according to data from PYMNTS’ Restaurant Friction Index, created collaboration with Paytronix, which drew from a survey of a census-balanced panel of over 2,100 United States adults.

Related news: New Data Show Digital Loyalty Programs Are Key Differentiator for Top-Performing Restaurants

The study found that, of the 58% of consumers who do not order via aggregator, 41% steer clear because they are unwilling to pay the delivery or service fee, a greater share than said the same of any other deterrent.

Both delivery services and restaurants, major brands and independents alike, are seeking out automated solutions to help meet this demand.

In fact, research from the January issue of PYMNTS’ Main Street Merchant Index™ (MSI), “Main Street Index: Optimism Amid Inflation Edition,” created in collaboration with Melio,  which drew from a survey of 765 Main Street U.S. business owners conducted in the late fall, found that 29% of businesses in the food, entertainment and accommodation segment reported that they are “very” or “extremely” likely to invest in automation/robotization of tasks that currently require manual labor. Plus, a greater share of businesses in the segment reported an interest in these technologies than in any other segment.

Read more: Two-Thirds Of US Main Street Businesses Show Optimism Despite Inflation, Economic Uncertainty

Separating the Wheat From the Chaff

Noting this demand, robotics companies are flooding into the space promising automated solutions.

“The key is … going out there and identifying what’s noise and what’s signal,” Kashani said. “Obviously, in any segment of technology, we have hype cycles where some things are over-promised and then over time, we figure out what the reality is.”

He cited the example of fully self-driving vehicles, arguing that, while some have been making big claims about the potential of the technology for years, only now is it becoming a viable possibility. As such, he contends that the dynamic has flipped, where now those who have undervalued the technology “might actually be on the losing side,” while those who are seriously exploring its possibilities are “going to be the winners.”

You may also like: Restaurants Turn to Robotics to Fulfill Delivery Demand

Full Autonomy

Now, as these players compete for restaurant and delivery service customers, some are offering devices piloted by remote drivers, while others are offering fully driverless options. Those operating in the latter space, including Serve, are offering level 4 autonomy, where vehicles can operate themselves under some conditions but not others.

“This idea that you can just have someone remotely drive a robot, it just doesn’t work. It’s not safe. It’s not economical,” Kashani argues, “but the solution has been presented. We now have what is needed to make [level 4 autonomy] commercially viable at scale, and that’s exactly what’s happening now.”

——————————

NEW PYMNTS DATA: THE TAILORED SHOPPING EXPERIENCE STUDY – MAY 2022

About: PYMNTS’ survey of 2,094 consumers for The Tailored Shopping Experience report, a collaboration with Elastic Path, shows where merchants are getting it right and where they need to up their game to deliver a customized shopping experience.

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Filed Under: BUSINESS, US

US preparing to approve long-range rocket system for Ukraine

May 26, 2022 by Staff Reporter

The administration is leaning toward sending the systems as part of a larger package of military and security assistance to Ukraine, which could be announced as soon as next week.

Senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have pleaded in recent weeks for the US and its allies to provide the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS. The US-made weapon systems can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of kilometers — much farther than any of the systems Ukraine already has — which the Ukrainians argue could be a gamechanger in their war against Russia.

Another system Ukraine has asked for is the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, a lighter wheeled system capable of firing many of the same types of ammunition as MLRS.

Russia has in recent weeks pummeled Ukraine in the east, where Ukraine is outmanned and outgunned, Ukrainian officials have said.

The Biden administration waivered for weeks, however, on whether to send the systems, amid concerns raised within the National Security Council that Ukraine could use the systems to carry out offensive attacks inside Russia, officials said.

The issue was at the top of the agenda at last week’s two meetings at the White House where deputy Cabinet members convened to discuss national security policy, officials said. At the heart of the matter was the same concern the administration has grappled with since the start of the war– whether sending increasingly heavy weaponry to Ukraine will be viewed by Russia as a provocation that could trigger some kind of retaliation against the US.

One major hang-up, the sources said, had been the rocket systems’ extensive range. The MLRS and its lighter-weight version, the HIMARS, can launch as far as 300km, or 186 miles, depending on the type of munition. They are fired from a mobile vehicle at land-based targets, which would allow the Ukrainians to more easily strike targets inside Russia.

Ukraine is already believed to have carried out numerous cross-border strikes inside Russia, which Ukrainian officials neither confirm nor deny. Russian officials have said publicly that any threat to their homeland would constitute a major escalation and have said that western countries are making themselves a legitimate target in the war by continuing to arm the Ukrainians.

Another major concern inside the Biden administration had been whether the US could afford to give away so many high-end weapons drawn from the military’s stockpiles, the sources said.

Asked on Monday whether the US would provide the systems, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demurred. “I don’t want to get ahead of where we are in the process of resourcing requirements,” he told reporters.

The administration had similar concerns about providing Ukraine with additional MiG-29 fighter jets, which some worried could allow the Ukrainians to take the fight into Russia. Ultimately, the US decided against backfilling Poland with new jets, which would have allowed the Poles to equip Ukraine with the soviet-era MiGs.

The debate about the MLRS is also similar to one that played out before the US decided to begin sending heavier, long-range Howitzers, to Ukraine last month. Weapons packages focused on anti-tank Javelin and short-range Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, as well as small arms and ammunition. At the time, the M777 Howitzers marked a significant increase in range and power over previous systems, but even those top out at around 25 kilometers or 18 miles in range. The MLRS can fire much further still than any of the artillery the US has sent to date.

One workaround could be to provide Ukraine with shorter-range rocket systems, officials said, which is also under consideration. It would not take too long to train the Ukrainians on any of the rocket launcher systems, officials told CNN — likely about two weeks, they said.

Every drawdown from existing inventories involves a review of its potential effect on US military readiness. With the previous drawdowns, the risk has been “relatively low,” said Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley on Monday. The military is watching “very, very carefully” to make sure the stockpiles don’t drop below levels that create a greater risk, he added.

The concern grows significantly with more capable, more expensive systems of which the US does not have as large a supply, the sources said.

Pentagon officials met with the CEO of Lockheed Martin last week to discuss supply and ramping up production of the MLRS, one source familiar with the meeting told CNN. The meeting was led by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Bill LaPlante.

The UK is also still deciding whether to send the systems, two officials told CNN, and would like to do so in conjunction with the US.

Frustration has grown on the Ukrainian side with the US’ indecisiveness in recent weeks, because they believe that once the US sends the systems then other countries will quickly follow suit.

As recently as this week, the Pentagon had told Ukraine “we are working on it,” said one irritated Ukrainian official, who added that Ukraine is asking for an update on the decision “every hour.”

“We are in great need of weapons that will make it possible to engage the enemy over a long distance,” Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said Thursday. “And this cannot be delayed, because the price of delay is measured by the lives of people who have protected the world from [Russian fascism].”

When Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was asked Thursday what his country’s most urgent needs are, he responded: “If you really care for Ukraine, weapons, weapons and weapons again.”

“My least favorite phrase is ‘We are working on it’; I hate it. I want to hear either ‘We got it’ or ‘It’s not going to happen,'” he added.

Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, who was part of a congressional delegation trip to Kyiv earlier this month, told CNN he believes the systems could help Ukraine gain significant momentum against Russia.

“I think it could be a gamechanger, to be honest with you,” Crow said, not only for offensive attacks but also for defense. He explained that Russian conventional artillery, which has a range of about 50km, “would not get close” to Ukrainian urban centers if MLRS systems were positioned there. “So it would take away their siege tactics,” he said of the Russians.

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Filed Under: POLITICS, US

United States and European Union Outline Plans for Cooperation on Trade and Technology | White & Case LLP

May 25, 2022 by Staff Reporter

On May 16, 2022, senior officials from the United States and the European Union concluded the second meeting of the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Paris-Saclay, France.  US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, and European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis led the meeting as Co-Chairs of the TTC.  Following the meeting, the parties issued a Joint Statement that outlines the progress of the TTC and its ten working groups since last autumn, as well as plans for future cooperation on issues such as critical supply chains, technology standards, export controls, climate, and unfair trade practices. 

In keeping with the TTC’s status as forum for consultations, rather than the negotiation of binding legal outcomes, the initiatives described in the Joint Statement focus primarily on expanding information sharing between the two governments, articulating shared principles and concerns, working to voluntarily harmonize standards and approaches where possible, and advancing shared interests on a global basis.  Among other things, the Joint Statement broadly affirms the participants’ intentions to “continue to oppose actors who threaten the multilateral rules-based order and fundamental principles of international law,” and to continue “coordinating our actions to mitigate the negative impacts of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine[.]”  With respect to trade, the participants have committed to “intensify our work to resolve trade disagreements to our mutual advantage, reduce unnecessary barriers to bilateral trade and investment, and strive to prevent new ones from emerging[.]”  The parties also recognize “the need to reform the WTO,” and to take “effective action to address trade-distortive non-market policies and practices.”   

Beyond these general principles, the Joint Statement incorporates reports from the TTC’s ten working groups outlining progress on specific issues.  Some of the most notable outcomes and commitments documented by the working groups include the following:

Technology Standards

Recognizing that the establishment of “better aligned and interoperable technology standards” would facilitate trade, this working group seeks to foster the development of such standards and to “reduce non-tariff barriers in key technology areas[.]”  Accordingly, as of May 16, 2022, the US and EU have established a “Strategic Standardisation Information” (“SSI”) mechanism with the aim to “encourage engagement in new standardization opportunities” and “explore taking coordinated action if standardization activities pose a challenge to US-EU strategic interests and values.”  The working group is also developing a list of critical and emerging technologies that it will prioritize in its efforts coordinate technology standards.  Such technologies include additive manufacturing, megawatt charging systems for heavy-duty recharging points, recycling of materials, “digital identity,” and “Internet of Things.”

Global Trade Challenges

The working group on global trade challenges has focused on four general areas: (1) avoiding unnecessary trade barriers; (2) cooperation on “non-market policies and practices;” (3) trade and labor; and (4) trade and environment.  Notable outcomes and commitments in these areas include the following:

  • Avoiding unnecessary trade barriers.  The parties will seek to facilitate trade by (1) exploring the use of digital tools for regulatory approvals and conformity assessments; (2) identifying specific areas or products where cooperation on conformity assessment could facilitate trade; (3) expanding cooperation in the area of government procurement; (4) identifying measures that will facilitate trade with Ukraine; and (5) seeking to avoid “unintended consequences of domestic requirements that could create unnecessary barriers to trade and investment, notably for critical products/areas[.]”  
  • Cooperation on “non-market policies and practices.”  The parties plan to develop “joint or coordinated strategies, using available policies and tools,” aimed at countering the impact of “non-market, trade-distortive policies and practices” on technological development and competitiveness in key sectors, such as medical devices.  Additional sectors may be prioritized in the future.  When using domestic tools to address unfair practices, the United States and the EU “will seek to consult or coordinate with each other, with a view to avoiding or mitigating unintended consequences for each other, where possible.” 
  • Labor.  The parties intend to collaborate on the promotion of internationally recognized labor rights in global supply chains, mostly through the exchange of information on best practices (e.g., for combatting forced labor) and work in multilateral fora.  They have also announced the establishment of a new tripartite trade and labor dialogue (“TALD”), involving relevant representatives of the US Government, the European Commission, and US and EU trade unions and businesses.
  • Environment.  The parties intend to “take a leading role in using trade policy and tools to support climate and environmental policy goals[.]”  In addition to exchanging information, they have agreed that these efforts should include cooperation on the implementation of the WTO statement on the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions.  Such efforts will focus on (1) enabling a “trade facilitative approach” to remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair, and direct reuse; and (2) “fostering better understanding of the role of trade” in disseminating goods and services to meet environmental and climate goals.

Climate and Clean Tech 

The climate and clean tech working group is focused on three main areas: (1) promoting green public procurement policies; (2) aligning methodologies for calculating the carbon footprint of selected products, and (3) advancing electro-mobility and interoperability with smart grids.  With respect to procurement, the parties “intend to work towards a joint US-EU initiative incorporating sustainability considerations in public procurement,” though these discussions currently are limited to “joint mapping of policies and a joint catalogue of best practices[.]”  The parties have also begun “expert-level exchanges” on methodologies for measuring the carbon footprint of selected products.  

Secure Supply Chains

The working group on secure supply chains has focused on identifying and addressing shared vulnerabilities in areas such as semiconductors, solar panels, rare earth magnets, and critical minerals.  Key updates in these areas include the following:

  • Semiconductors.  US government agencies and the European Commission intend to participate in a two-month pilot to develop an “early warning system” for semiconductor supply chain disruptions.  Additionally, the parties have articulated a “common goal” to limit semiconductor subsidies “to what is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to achieve public policy objectives,” in order to avoid subsidy races.  The parties are “determined to provide any support for this sector in line with WTO rules.”
  • Solar products.  The parties “pledge to cooperate on respective project development and the design of financing tools” and on “bolstering solar manufacturing capacity that adheres to shared environmental, social, and quality standards[.]”  They also will aim to “alleviate existing supply chain concentration, actively working together to address market access barriers and distortions to US-EU trade and investments[.]”  Additionally, the parties will “work to minimise the impact of any protective measures on their respective industries[.]”
  • Rare earth magnets.  The parties plan on “redoubling and refocusing efforts” through the TTC and relevant multilateral initiatives “to continue address rare earth elements supply chain vulnerabilities and to promote undistorted trade throughout the rare earth supply chain.”  Such initiatives include the Conference on Critical Materials and Minerals between the European Union, the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada.  The parties have expressed their resolve “to preserve the openness of the transatlantic supply chains” in this sector.

ICTS Security and Competitiveness

Among other initiatives, the parties have launched a dedicated task force on “joint US-EU public financing for secure and resilient connectivity and ICTS supply chains in third countries.”  This task force will promote the use of “trusted/non-high-risk suppliers” in third countries and share information on US and EU efforts to support “secure, resilient, and rights-respecting ICTS projects” in third countries.  The task force’s efforts will support US and EU “flagship infrastructure initiatives” by prioritizing “high-quality” ICTS infrastructure projects that promote principles of security, transparency, and competition.

Export controls

The export controls working group noted that the United States and EU have achieved an “unprecedented” level of cooperation in limiting exports of dual-use items and strategic technologies to Russia following its actions in Ukraine. Going forward, the parties “intend[] to continue to regularly exchange pertinent information [on export controls], with an initial focus on Russia and other potential sanctions evaders.”  They also will seek to work with third countries on export controls “in a joint and structured effort to uphold international peace and security” and counter circumvention.  The parties also plan to exchange information and pursue coordination with respect to licensing practices, approaches to emerging technologies, and implementation of export controls.  

Investment Screening

At this stage, the working group on investment screening is focused primarily on sharing information and best practices.  Information exchanges thus far have focused on foreign direct investment trends, trends in investments from certain countries of origin, transaction structures of interest, and implementation of the parties’ respective investment screening regimes.  Moving forward, the working group intends to continue these information exchanges, and to develop a “holistic view” of security risks related to specific sensitive technologies and policy tools for addressing them.  

Outlook

The TTC’s work reflects important shifts in the format, substance, and ambition of transatlantic engagement on trade issues.  Prior initiatives such as the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership focused on liberalizing trade in a comprehensive and legally binding manner.  By contrast, the TTC reflects a strong focus on mitigating shared vulnerabilities and risks – including climate, geopolitical, national security, and supply chain risks – through mostly voluntary initiatives and policy coordination.  The TTC has yielded aspirational commitments to avoid “unnecessary” escalation of transatlantic trade barriers, but has dedicated relatively little attention to expanding trade, compared to other priorities.  Nevertheless, some TTC initiatives such as the proposed alignment of technology standards and conformity assessments have the potential to facilitate trade, and therefore are important priorities for the US business community.

Additionally, there are indications that the TTC’s work may feed into other important bilateral and plurilateral initiatives.  For example, the TTC’s efforts to align methodologies for calculating the carbon footprint of key products may inform the ongoing US-EU negotiation for a Global Arrangement on steel and aluminum trade, and subsequent policies developed pursuant to that arrangement.  Moreover, Secretary Raimondo has announced that the US and EU intend to work toward a “concrete alignment” on export controls by the time of the next TTC ministerial at the end of this year, with a likely focus on semiconductors.  She suggested that this arrangement could be broadened to include additional countries such as Japan in order to enhance its effectiveness.  Commissioner Vestager has raised the possibility of other “TTC spinoffs,” including a potential “framework” to spur investment in critical minerals in countries such as Canada and Australia.  These initiatives could magnify the impact of the work done in the TTC.

The Joint Statement can be viewed here.  

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Filed Under: BUSINESS, US

Republicans offer thoughts and prayers – but not gun control to stop the killings | Texas school shooting

May 25, 2022 by Staff Reporter

As the cycle of American gun violence took its latest turn on Tuesday, with at least 19 children and two teachers brutally murdered at an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas, the response from the Republican right came from an all too familiar playbook.

Thoughts and prayers, obfuscation and inaction.

Shortly after the shooting, Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who for well over a decade has led his party in vehemently blocking a raft of federal gun control measures, decried the “disgusting violence” in Uvalde and said: “The entire country is praying for the children, families, teachers, and staff and the first responders on the scene.”

But prayers aside, there remains little to no hope of commonsense gun control measures making their way into federal law, despite support from the majority of American voters.

Within hours of the bloodshed on Tuesday, many of the national Republican Party’s most outspoken voices on gun ownership recited talking points now rote in the aftermath of mass shootings.

Texas senator Ted Cruz, who also sent prayers to the community in Uvalde, castigated Democrats and members of the media during a brief interview with CNN. “Inevitably when there’s a murder of this kind you see politicians try to politicize it,” he said. “You see Democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. That doesn’t work. It’s not effective. It doesn’t prevent crime.”

His remarks were almost identical in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting in Florida back in 2018, which claimed the lives of 17 students and teachers. Despite a grassroots protest movement, in which hundreds of thousands of school children descended on Washington in a March for Our Lives, no federal legislation was passed. Jury selection in the death penalty trial of the Parkland shooter continues this week, a further marker of the trauma these mass shootings leave behind.

Meanwhile, Cruz is set to speak at the National Rifle Association leadership summit on Friday, in Houston, just 280 miles from Uvalde, alongside Donald Trump and Texas governor Greg Abbott.

Other senior Texas Republicans, who have presided over a series of measures aimed at loosening restrictions on firearm ownership in the state, reiterated calls to arm teachers, despite the fact the shooter engaged a number of armed officers as he successfully stormed the school building.

“We can’t stop bad people from doing bad things,” Texas attorney general Ken Paxton told Fox News on Tuesday. “We can potentially arm and prepare and train teachers and other administrators to respond quickly. That, in my opinion, is the best answer.”

Among other US Republican senators, perceived as more open to bipartisan agreement, the sentiment remained largely the same. North Carolina senator Thom Tillis told reporters on Tuesday he had not seen any indication in initial reports that suggested the shooter’s record “​​was in any way affected by Congress’s actions or inaction”.

Tillis continued to express skepticism over so-called “red flag laws” adopted by a handful of US states in the wake of Parkland, which aim to allow authorities to restrict gun ownership from individuals deemed a threat to public safety. In 2019 bipartisan efforts in the US Senate to support such laws failed and on Tuesday Tillis reiterated his concern that such laws were “overreach”.

While Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, passed two House gun control bills last year, which aimed to expand and strengthen background checks, there remains little to no hope of their passage through the split US Senate where 60 votes are required to pass legislation. On Tuesday, the conservative Democrat Joe Manchin also reiterated he did not support calls from within the party to reform senate filibuster rules, which could allow the passage of legislation with a simple majority.

There was no sign either that a new generation of Republican senators might offer any hope for bipartisan gun reform measures. At a victory party on Tuesday night in Georgia, the newly nominated, Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Herschel Walker evaded questions over the massacre.

Asked if he supported any new gun control measures in the aftermath, Walker responded: “What I like to … what I like to do, is see it and everything and stuff,” before being ushered away.

Supporters at the event reportedly booed as president Joe Biden’s address to the nation was broadcast, during which he asked: “When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name are we going to do what has to be done? Why are we willing to live with this carnage?”

The president was far from alone in expressing indignation on the legislative paralysis in Congress.

During an impassioned speech on the senate floor on Tuesday, Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy invoked the memory of the Sandy Hook massacre almost 10 years ago in his home state as he urged his colleagues to engage with reform efforts.

“What are we doing?” Murphy said. “Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate? Why do you go through all the hassle of getting this job, of putting yourself in a position of authority, if your answer is that as this slaughter increases, as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing?”

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Filed Under: POLITICS, US

About to Bounce Inflatable Fentals at Audubon Zoo

May 25, 2022 by About To Bounce Inflatable Rentals



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